[3] It received positive reviews upon release, with several publications praising its mechanics, simplicity, and difficulty level, likening it to The Legend of Zelda and Dark Souls games.

[6] As with other Zelda-like games, new items and abilities allow access to new areas in previously explored levels, and solving puzzles with available tools is required to complete dungeons.

[7][6] The player takes on the role of a small crow who works as a "reaper" collecting souls for the Reaping Commission Headquarters, an office-like bureaucratic afterlife.

[9] The old crow explains that the player must make their way through three dungeons in order to collect three "Giant Souls" needed to open Death's Door.

Using an array of weapons, projectiles, magic, and dodging, the player travels through several areas, all of which link back to Headquarters via a door, defeating three bosses to collect Giant Souls.

After the credits, the player can switch to night mode and solve puzzles in each of the levels to collect Tablets of Knowledge which unlock the true ending, revealing the crows were acting on the will of the entity known as Truth.

Death's Door was developed by Acid Nerve, a Manchester, United Kingdom-based two-person studio comprising Mark Foster and David Fenn.

[12] The game was about half-way complete at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which required they move to remote work and leave their new office but, it otherwise did not have a significant negative impact on development.

[7][10][20] PC Gamer's Luke Winkie criticized aspects of the level design, which necessitate more backtracking than should be required, but with an overall positive review: "It's as if a grand entry to an overarching canon—filled with quirks, humor, and wondrous attention to detail—was miraculously miniaturized to fit into a fortnight's worth of lunch breaks.

"[7] In a positive review, Brendan Graeber wrote in IGN that it "expertly blends classic dungeon puzzle solving with fast-paced combat encounters to create a memorable adventure across a moody world brimming with secret paths and hidden rewards.